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I was about to sign with a rental management agency when the owner confided in me that she had the perfect trick that would ensure that I only got good tenants in my buildings. She was smiling proudly, in a conspiratorial manner, as she explained how she always told black applicants that the ad had been placed by mistake, or that the home had already been rented out. She would then offer them alternatives that she knew were too expensive, too small, or too far away for their needs.My smile turned to stone, and I got out my phone and pulled up a picture of my beautiful baby girl – with her dark skin and tightly curled hair – and showed it to the lady. She stammered something that ought to have been an apology, but was in reality just a series of justifications: They weren’t all bad, but she just had so many owners who didn’t want to rent to them. They trashed the blinds, didn’t pay on time, and didn’t know how to clean a kitchen. Again, not all of them, just most – well, some – and anyway, Mexicans were worse. They’d steal the pipes out of the walls when they left!I don’t need to see black Americans getting arrested for doing something that I would never in a million years get in trouble for doing. I’m a white person in the South, and racists assume that I’m one of them. They straight up tell me about all the little ways that they find to discriminate against black people and racial minorities. The signs that say that the restroom isn’t for customers is just there to prevent non-whites from even asking to use it. This way they don’t have to deny black people, they can just make a few exceptions every time the person needing to pee is white.That’s how policies like the one that was used to excuse the harassment and arrest of two black men work. The shopkeeper or proprietor sets out a policy, and they just “forget” to enforce it when the customer is pale enough.

The people who reject non-vegetarian tenants would say they are right. And the people who are rejected wouldn’t say the practice is right. The answer you accept as the right answer depends upon who you are.This practice exists. It is there because it is thought to be right. Otherwise it won’t be so rampant in India.The question is just not bound up with “preference”, as might be innocently presupposed: that it is akin to a teetotaler wanting to rent/live with a teetotaler.Indians know what it is. But since it wouldn’t hurt to take a familiar walk along the park, let’s just do it anyway.A brand called “Brahmins” with the “vegetarian promise”; Image Source: Brahmins bringing caste to your food plateThe issue of vegetarianism-based renting is tied up with issues of morality, casteism, being “the right Hindu”, and so many other things. Vegetarians are quite aggressive, bordering on violence, to enforce it upon others:Vegetarianism is bound up with power dynamics:According to the last Indian Census in 2011, the staunchest vegetarians in the region, the Jains, make up less than 1% of Gujarat’s population. But as Mukhtar pointed out, the Jains are financially sound, well-educated, wealthy and entrepreneurial, and this offers them pride of place in Gujarat’s traditions.As a result, Jain food is often referred to as Gujarati food, and non-Jain food is often referred to as Muslim, coastal, or Dalit food. In a district that was constructed by the Jains, known as Pali Tala, vegetarianism is strictly enforced. No one who lives there, not even Muslims, is allowed to eat meat.Source: ‘No one eats non-veg openly here’: Ahmedabad’s food lovers on the city’s cultural aversion to meatVegetarianism-based renting is bound up with forced residence and exclusionary practices:Ashok Khamkar, 70, knows what it feels like to be kept out. The proprietor of a spice shop in Lalbaug says it still hurts to think that he was denied a house in the area because of his food preferences. “It happened about 10 years ago. I grew up in Lalbaug and wanted to move out of an old building to Kamal Kunj, the first high-rise in the area. But the builder told me I didn’t qualify since I was non-vegetarian and the other residents were mostly Jains.” Khamkar ultimately bought a house in Mahim, a 20-minute drive from Lalbaug.Source: Mumbai meat ban: The politics behind the city’s veg vs non-veg divideVegetarianism is bound up with “good behaviour” and rightful policing by neighbours:If your landlord isn't fussy about your food habits, the neighbours, who have their own criteria before 'accepting' you, may play spoilsport. There are cases where they expect the tenants to be "a vegetarian Hindu", apart from being well-behaved and easygoing. While being married is an added bonus, you may still stand rejected if you aren't a vegetarian.Source: No room for singles, non-vegetarians in Ahmedabad - Times of IndiaVegetarianism is linked with being the right upper-caste Indian:“What is your religion?” he asked. “I am a Hindu and a Brahmin by caste,” I replied. He grinned showing a sign of relief and signed the agreement without any other question.In Gujarat, Brahmins are generally vegetarians but it is just the opposite in Bengal. Fish is our staple food. We can live without water but not without non-vegetarian food. My landlord was unaware of this. And to my bad luck, I asked him if there was any fish market nearby.This question turned his face pale, holding the agreement in his hand, he angrily asked me, “Why do you want to go to a fish market if you are a Brahmin?” I understood my mistake but it was too late for any explanation and the agreement was cancelled.In my 22-month stay in Gujarat, I have gained total control on my non-vegetarian desires. Due to the fear of the locality, we didn’t dare bring raw meat in the flat for cooking or order something from outside.I left Kolkata in 2012 for Bangalore, to pursue my higher studies, and stayed there for almost three years. But I never felt the need to flash my ‘Brahmin identity card’ and/or lie about being a non-vegetarian. I don’t mean that such incidents don’t occur in Kolkata, Bangalore or in other cities but thankfully, I hadn’t experienced them earlier. In every new city, I see new classifications of Indians. In Kolkata, it was political and apolitical Indians; in Bangalore it was mainly North and South Indians. And in Gujarat, I got to know about another bifurcation – vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indians.Source: I'm A Non-Veg Brahmin And Here's Why I Never Dared To Bring Meat In My Gujarat HomeVegetarianism also led to a divorce, on grounds of “torture” in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Love can’t win it all:A 23-year-old Amdavadi has filed an application with the police, accusing her husband of five years of torturing her. Her grouse is that he eats non-vegetarian food – reportedly breaking his promise of staying off meat once they get married. The inability to compromise over their food habits has led the couple to opt for divorce. Rima Doshi who belongs to the Jain community is a staunch vegetarian that eschews even onions, potatoes, brinjals and garlic.Six years ago, she fell in love with Karan Chandela who worked in a small computer office opposite her house near Sola Bhagwat.As they got to know each other, Rima found that Karan who was a Rajput from Bihar was a hardcore non-vegetarian. This was not acceptable to Rima whose community objected to the eating of meat and fish based on the principle of non-violence (ahimsa). When she objected to his food habits, Karan reportedly promised to give it all up for love. Happy with this promise, Rima told her parents about Karan. Her parents protested because they came from different caste, community and social strata.Source: http://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/cover-story/man-eats-meat-wife-seeks-divorce/articleshow/58305338.cmsThough the link between non-violence and vegetarianism is a bit interesting:The idea that non-vegetarianism promotes violence and depravity is really bunkConsider, for instance, the relation between non-vegetarianism and the rate of violent crimes in Indian states. States such as Haryana and Rajasthan, where most people are vegetarian and the average monthly meat consumption of 95 grams is the lowest in the country, are as violent as non-vegetarian Goa and Kerala, where most people eat at least 2kg of meat a month. Whatever the reasons for violent crimes in India, meat-eating needn't be skewered for them. By all accounts, the occurrence of crime has little to do with what's on people's plates.Meanwhile, violence against women – including assault, domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment, stalking and trafficking – in non-vegetarian states, where widespread meat-eating is supposed to incite libidinous depravity, happens to be slightly lower than in vegetarian states. Non-vegetarian states, it turns out, provide less hostile conditions for women. This is true even when we consider more reliable indicators such as female literacy rates and sex ratios instead of the crimes recorded by the policeSource: In Defence Of Non-VegetarianismVegetarianism is bound up with casteism and doing business:Gujarat is widely perceived to be a vegetarian state. Global pizza chain Pizza Hut had famously made its Gujarat foray with first vegetarian restaurant in the world, while global restaurant chains like Subway, KFC and McDonalds are not just experimenting with vegetarian food but also offering Jain food."But reality is that a large chunk of the population in Gujarat, which has the longest 1,600 km coastline, which includes 15% tribal, 7% Dalits, 50% OBS and 12% minorities like Muslims, Christians and Parsis are non-vegetarians," says sociologist Ghanshyam Shah."Due to Sankritization or emulation of lifestyle followed by upper castes and certain successful religious movements, number of non-vegetarians may have gone down ," says sociologist Gaurang Jani.Source: 'Veg' Gujarat has 40% non-vegetarians - Times of India….Which Indians carry forward even while they are living outside India, like in Canada or Australia:It’s listed as a preference, though.But what is this “pure vegetarian” thing?If you are one of these “purity” obsessed vegetarians in 2018, there is news for you:You are not “pure”, in fact you are the farthest from it thanks to the prejudice and discrimination that infests your mind even in the 21st century.(With apologies to the Bard) “Here’s the smell of bigotry still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten your casteist mind.Source: 'Non-vegetarian' is the biggest casteist scam that has ever been pulled on IndiansVegetarianism-based renting is linked with religion and a preferred exclusion:The rule against ‘non-vegetarians’ was merely being used as a euphemism. "I have lived here for 20 years, and am non-veg myself. This is about not selling flats to members of a certain community," he said.Source: Mumbai: At Mumbra s first veg building, hypocrisy served, but not non-vegetarian foodVegetarianism-based renting is linked with character-certificate and sexual agency:The fact that I was single and happy was my biggest disqualification. In fact, after a point my broker suggested that I lie and tell them that my parents living with me," said Prateeksha Sahani, who came to the city three years ago, with a job in public relations in hand.I was appalled when the owner of an apartment within an upscale gated community in Chandanagar told me that he wouldn't lease his home to a single, north-Indian girl. His reasons: They'll get men and cook meat. I had thought Hyderabad was far more progressive," said Sikha Sharma, who eventually settled for another house in the same area.Source: Single & non-vegetarian: No room for women in Hyderabad - Times of IndiaRejecting tenants on the basis of their food choice creates enclaves/ghettos. It doesn’t lead to an integrated society, howsoever elusive the dream might seem, and howsoever common-sensical it might seem that food is indeed, supposed to smell.Rental preferences based on smell is usually known as discrimination, outside of India, especially when it comes to dealing with Indians, regardless of their vegetarian or non-vegetarian status:“One Indian expat said his agent told him that many landlords would refuse to rent to him because "Indians always cook smelly curries"” : 'No Indians No PRCs': Singapore's rental discrimination“In a second email to agents at Evolution Properties, the landlord — who evicted 200 tenants in 2014 for being on housing benefit — added: “No coloured people because of the curry smell at the end of the tenancy.”Dozens of people responded on social media, condemning "vile" and "disgusting" Mr Wilson for racism, and speculating that he would be sued.Anti-racism charity HOPE not hate told The Independent that the email was an "unacceptable throwback" to the 1960s. “You simply cannot treat people like this and deny them a place to live due to their skin colour," a spokesman said. “This is the unacceptable face of the housing crisis. There is something broken in the system when such a powerful figure can get away with such an appalling policy.” :Source: Britain's biggest landlord bans 'coloured' people from renting properties 'because of the curry smell'""I've travelled all around the world and never in my life have I been subjected to profiling or racism ever," said Singh, describing his surprise that he could experience racism in 2015.” “It is illegal. Our company does not encourage colleagues to [turn down tenants on grounds of race] as it is discrimination.":Source: Hong Kong estate agent refuses flat viewing as client was Indian"The whole place stank. I’m not having foreign guests again.”“What do you mean?” I asked.“The apartment smelled like curry. I had to spend four hours cleaning on Sunday and even then, it didn’t make a difference. He’s not getting his deposit back.”“That seems extreme,” I countered weakly, and went back to my desk. I put my fingers on my keyboard, but couldn’t work. I thought of the guest, who would not receive his money. I remembered the many East Indian-American and Pakistani-American children I’d grown up with in the Washington, DC area, who didn’t smell any differently than I did. I thought of the nastiness of the insult — you stink.Source: How Do You Solve A Problem Like Airbnb Racism? – The Establishment"In terms of people not wanting to give their places to Indians, because here's a real fear that a lot of Indians -- or us -- we might ruin the place by cooking curry or whatever."Source: Survey reveals widespread fear and anxiety among rentersThe rhetoric is the same though. It is “my preference”, “freedom of speech”, “freedom of renting”, etc:I really want to call this country home, I really want to feel patriotic towards it for supporting me for 7 years but I just can’t. Not when it manages to make a considerably confident woman second guess herself everyday and chips away at her self esteem.“I am so tired.. My eyes are red, they hurt, and I am tired.“UPDATE: she asked me to delete her name while in the same breath accepting that she’s racist? So here are the same pictures with her name blacked out because it’s not about one racist person out there, it’s about the reality of real estate in SG.”Source: Prospective tenant is told room is no longer available when landlord really doesn’t want to rent to Indians

We don’t feel that some tenants are taking advantage of the moratorium; we know it. The moratorium was meant to protect people who had absolutely no way of paying in spite of doing everything humanly possible, yet none of my unemployed tenants have turned in the applications I gave them for work at my truck stop. They want me to pay so they can live for free, because they don’t actually want to work.I have been lucky, overall, since the first federal moratorium didn’t apply to me, and because few took advantage of the first state moratorium once they found out that I’d go scorched earth on those who did without my prior permission. This newest CDC moratorium is too broad, and the numerous extensions of various protections have led too many people to think that they’ll be safe from eviction indefinitely, so now they’d prefer to go shoe shopping or get a new iPhone instead of paying rent. This moratorium covers everyone who makes less than $100,000 a year, as long as they sign a declaration – under penalty of perjury – that they cannot pay rent because their income was substantially reduced, that they’ve paid what they can, that they’ve looked for work and housing assistance, and that they would be homeless if evicted. That literally applies to none of the people who have handed in such a declaration to the rental management agency I own.I opened the agency to handle my own properties, but that wasn’t enough work to keep the staff I needed fully occupied, so I began to take on other private landlords as clients. These are people who own between one and 12 units, and none of them can afford to go months without collecting rent. Most have mortgages to pay, and even if some of them get to postpone their payments, they have other expenses and they depend on the income to pay their own bills and make a living. We manage 37 households owned by other landlords, and of those 12 have handed over financial hardship declarations. I have 42 units of my own, and I have received five declarations. Renters who sign these are swearing that they’ve tried to work with their landlords, yet none of them have. The five in my buildings haven’t tried to work with me because they had no trouble paying rent up until the federal government told them they didn’t have to if they signed and handed me a declaration. The same goes for seven of the other 12, and the others had run into money trouble unrelated to the pandemic in recent weeks. Only one had even offered to pay anything at all, and she said she’d give me 10 percent of her $1,400 rent each month if I agreed to waive my right to the other 90 percent!There are so many available jobs in this area that I have refrained from firing people lately who absolutely shouldn’t be working for me. The woman with needle marks on her arms was told to wear a long sleeve t-shirt, the guy who didn’t show up for a week got a fourth chance, the girls who refused to do the work I asked them to got warnings, and the one I think stole from me was moved to the cleaning crew so she won’t have access to money. Every other related business is experiencing the same staffing shortages, but what we need are unskilled minimum wage workers. I get why this isn’t your first choice if you have a college degree or a vocational skill, but call me crazy, I’d think any job would be preferable to no job. Just because you’d only earn a fraction of what you used to, it doesn’t mean that you can overlook customer service jobs and still claim to have been seeking employment. Though I didn’t expect anyone to apply, I handed every tenant who said they couldn’t pay rent an application, and my (low) expectations were justified.The refusal of my tenants to go to work for me proves two things: They are absolutely abusing the eviction protections and they committed perjury. I obviously cannot threaten anyone, but there was nothing stopping me from mailing all tenants a letter explaining that I had retained the services of an investigator to verify statements of financial hardship, and that suspected fraud would be reported to authorities, contested in eviction court, and form the basis of lawsuits. No threats, just a simple statement of intent along with an explanation of the law. And would you believe that 11 out of 17 households asked me to tear up their CDC declarations? Nine of them paid rent and apologized, and when I turned around and served the five among them who were eligible for other causes with notices to vacate, none objected. One paid most of the rent owed and threw a fit when she received a new notice to vacate due to the balance still owed, but she didn’t try to claim exemption again. The last one never paid but moved out right away, so I continued with the eviction and hope to recover the money by wage garnishment as his roommate has a good job.What does it tell you when the vast majority of the people who tried to use the moratorium changed their mind the moment they learned that fraudulent statement would have severe consequences? What does it tell you when they all suddenly found the rent money under a couch cushion once they discovered that they would be evicted if they didn’t pay? To me it adds up to deliberate attempts to abuse the eviction protections. And if you think that the ones who didn’t retract their statements prove that they were using them legitimately, think again. All it proves is their belief that they were untouchable, because one of them is the manager of a local chain restaurant I drive by daily, and he is always at work. Another one actually works for the same company my friend does, so I know she is working. It’s not just my opinion that they lied on their statements, because so far it looks like my efforts to challenge them in court will be successful.Oh, and the moratorium wasn’t meant to be used as “financial relief”; it was supposed to a last-ditch option to prevent homelessness in the midst of a pandemic, for when renters had paid everything they possibly could, tightened their belts, and tried to work things out with their landlords. The idea wasn’t for you to have a bit more room in your budget at the expense of your landlord, so if that’s how you’re using it, you are part of the problem and the reason for the upcoming pandemic of homelessness. Because guess what? Landlords aren’t going to stay in this business when we’re forced to house people for free. Those that don’t go bankrupt due to the moratorium will either sell or convert to other uses. The few landlords who stay in the business will not only be able to and insist on charging sky high rents to make up for the risk of another moratorium, but no one will ever rent to someone who cannot prove that they either paid rent during the pandemic or that they had their landlord’s permission to miss payments that they then repaid.Six months from now, renters will be fighting each other for the privilege of paying $3,000 for a dilapidated 1 bedroom a thirty minute drive from the nearest town, and none of it will be the fault of landlords. In late August I had no plans to evict anyone, but this idiotic moratorium meant to buy Trump votes (he doesn’t care about the resulting disaster as it won’t come until after the election) has forced me to evict 20 households out of the 42 in my own properties. I decided that it’s no longer worth the risk, so I ordered everyone without a lease to vacate in 30 days, and sent similar notices to anyone who paid after midnight on the 1st, who had enough past late payments to evict for habitual late payment, who had unapproved pets or roommates, or who gave me any other cause to evict. I’ll continue this until the properties are empty, and I’ll sell some and switch the rest to short-term or commercial (where it’s practical and allowed) rentals. So yeah, I know people take advantage of the moratorium, because this decision breaks my heart, and I’d never do it if I didn’t absolutely have to. I just cannot afford to host all these scammers at my expense.